To amuse and enlighten

My iPad Pros and Cons List

With April 3 rapidly approaching, I’ve gone into full scramble mode as I weigh the decision to buy or not to buy an iPad on Saturday.

While I still have a modicum of perspective, I’m rapidly losing it amid CNBC-induced iPad hype. I feel like this decision ranks up there with some of my biggest: Which college? Propose to the girl? Rent or buy? Dip my bacon in ranch dressing (you know I did)?

Like any rational Opie, when making an important decision, I lean heavily on Excel (not Numbers; sorry, Apple) spreadsheets and pro/con lists. Here’s where I stand on the iPad go/no-go decision.

Pros

It’s really, really cool

David Pogue has one

Cons

Will have to stand in line for hours on a Saturday morning with dozens of San Francisco hipster-nerds in tight jeans and John Varvatos sneakers

Doesn’t play flash video

Doesn’t have a camera

Doesn’t fully replace a laptop (yet)

Doesn’t fully replace my pleasant combo of iPhone + nook e-reader

Doesn’t fully replace anything, come to think of it…just another damn pretty object I have to carry

It’s really, really cool (some people rebel against things that are cool and the early-adopter douchebags that own them)

David Pogue has one

As you know, the length of either side of the list is utterly meaningless when it comes to Apple-lust. The iPad solves no great problem, meets no great need, feeds no hungry mouths; it’s just oddly necessary. By “oddly necessary”, I mean completely unnecessary. Sure, it weighs only 1.5 pounds, but it’s 1.5 pounds of stuff I don’t really need, and I’ve already got about 25 pounds I don’t need.

[tweetmeme source=”TheSmatter”]

I welcome any thoughts that might knock me off the fence and/or out of an around-the-block line on Saturday morning.